


Welcome Home

by lullabelle_moon



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Angst, Babies, Fluff, M/M, daddy!Robron, prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-05
Updated: 2015-09-05
Packaged: 2018-04-19 04:20:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4732613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lullabelle_moon/pseuds/lullabelle_moon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on a prompt: Two years ago Aaron and Robert ran away, now they're back and they have more than just an apology in tow.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Welcome Home

Robert pulled up and turned off the engine. He glanced into the mirror and checked the back seat before looking at Aaron,  
"You ready?"  
Aaron took a deep breath and shook his head,  
"No."  
Robert reached out and squeezed his shoulder,  
"It'll be fine."  
He dropped his hand and took Aaron's in his own; bringing it to his lips and pressing a kiss to it,  
"I promise."  
Aaron looked at him,  
"You promise promise?"  
Robert smirked,  
"I promise promise."  
Aaron took another deep breath,  
"Okay...wait here yeah? I think it's better if I just go in alone and...prep. Too many things at once might set her off again."  
Robert glanced into the back seat again and nodded,  
"Okay. I'll be here. Just come to the door when you're ready okay?"  
Aaron nodded and took his belt off,  
"I'll be a couple minutes."  
Robert turned his head,  
"Hey...it'll be fine."  
Aaron nodded again and glanced into the back seat before leaning over and pressing a kiss to Roberts lips and climbing from the car. He walked over to the door and took another breath before pushing it open and walking inside.

Chas glanced up and almost dropped the glass she was holding,  
"Aaron? Aaron!"  
She ran around the bar and pulled him into a hug,  
"Hi mum."  
She hugged him tightly then pulled back and cupped his face,  
"My boy..."  
She hugged him again; squeezing him tightly then pulled away again and smacked him across the head,  
"Ow what the hell?"  
Chas glared at him,  
"Two years Aaron? Two years? Where the hell have you been?!"  
Aaron cleared his throat,  
"Yeah sorry...we've uh...can we go out back?"  
Aaron glanced around,  
"Please?"  
Chas huffed and turned on her heel; leading Aaron out to the back where she promptly sat on a chair,  
"Go on then. Explain yourself."  
Aaron sighed and pushed a hand through his hair,  
"Okay...I'm sorry we-"  
"What the hell is that?"  
Aaron stopped,  
"What?"  
Chas jumped up and grabbed his hand,  
"This. What is this?"  
Aaron looked down at the ring on his finger and swallowed,  
"That's uh...part of the reason I came back-we...we came back. I um...got married."  
Chas looked at him for a long moment then shook her head,  
"Please...please tell me it's not to Robert, please."  
Aaron swallowed again,  
"Yeah it is."  
Chas covered her mouth,  
"Oh Aaron...no...no please."  
Aaron frowned,  
"Mum he's different- he's not the man that left here."  
She stared at him in shock,  
"Left? Left here? YOU RAN AWAY AARON. YOU JUST GOT UP AND LEFT FOR TWO YEARS!"  
He looked away; memories of that night flooding back- they'd had to leave after Andy found out the truth; there was no proof that Robert was even there let alone that he'd done anything but the fear in his eyes when he begged Aaron to go was enough to make them pack quickly and run in the darkness. He'd contacted Chas when they were far away enough that they wouldn't be dragged back. She'd yelled at him and he hadn't contacted her again.  
"So you came back to tell me you're married? That you threw your life away for that...that animal?"  
Aaron frowned,  
"Don't...talk about him that way. Yes we shouldn't have run away, I know that. But we did. And we did for good reason and he is my husband now okay? So just...look I don't wanna fight I came here to...make it up."  
Chas scoffed,  
"Make it up?"  
"Mum things have changed."  
She laughed,  
"Yeah you've made the biggest mistake of your life. Marrying him. He's..."  
She rubbed her neck,  
"I can't get on board with this love I'm sorry. I can't do it."  
Aaron swallowed and nodded,  
"Fine. You don't have to. But there's something...someone I need you to meet."  
Chas frowned,  
"What?"  
Aaron took a breath and left the room; opening the back door and walking around to the car. He knocked on the window and opened the door,  
"Do you wanna come in now?"  
Robert looked at him,  
"She mad?"  
Aaron nodded and opened the back door; he unbuckled the car seat and took it out as Robert climbed from the car and grabbed the bag,  
"Hey...it's alright."  
He kissed Aaron's head,  
"I'm right beside you okay?"  
Aaron nodded again and closed the door. He handed Robert the car seat and locked the car before leading him back inside.  
"Mum?"   
He stood in the doorway as Chas glared at him,  
"I didn't come back to fight. I came back because you're my family...our family."  
She scoffed again and shook her head,  
"I am not his family."  
Robert couldn't help the twinge of hurt in his chest. Aaron sighed,  
"Mum I get it...okay? But...here.."  
He walked in and stepped aside so Robert could follow into the room; Chas looked at him, her eyes glancing down to the car seat in his arms,  
"What...what is that?"  
Robert glanced at Aaron then back at Chas,  
"Congratulations Chas...you're a grandmother."

Chas looked at him then at Aaron,  
"A...you have a..."  
Aaron couldn't help the smile as he looked down at the baby asleep in the car seat. Robert walked in properly,  
"Mind if I uh..."  
He gestured to the sofa and Chas nodded; still in shock. He put the car seat down and started unbuckling the straps. Chas stared at Aaron,  
"You have a baby?"  
Aaron looked at her; suddenly very nervous,  
"Yeah...she's-"  
"She?"  
Robert lifted the sleeping baby and held her to his chest,  
"She's called Leah. Do you wanna hold her?"  
Chas looked at him; her face changing as she looked at the little girl in his arms,  
"Leah?"  
Aaron stepped closer as Chas took the baby from Robert and cradled her, looking down at her with a smile,  
"Oh love..."  
She looked at Aaron,  
"She's beautiful."  
Aaron grinned at her and put his arm around Chas,  
"I'm sorry we didn't tell you before."  
Chas clicked her tongue,  
"Oh who cares? I have a granddaughter!"  
She ran a finger gently over Leah's fist and smiled again,  
"Oh Aaron..."  
Aaron laughed and kissed her head before glancing back at Robert and smiling at him.

Leah slept through the meeting of Chas, Diane, Victoria and Adam. Questions had been answered over and over until they were all exhausted.   
"Hey."  
Aaron sat beside Robert who kissed his shoulder and smiled,  
"Where's our kid?"  
Robert smirked,  
"She woke up so Chas whipped her away. I presume she's being dealt with."  
Aaron chuckled and sighed,  
"Tired?"  
"Yeah."  
Robert lifted his arm and Aaron snuggled against his side; wrapping an arm around his middle and kissing his chest. Robert rubbed his back,  
"Guess we should enjoy the quiet before she's returned to us."  
Aaron smiled,  
"It is weirdly quiet without her."  
Robert grinned,  
"I'll remind you of that when she's screeching her head off at 4am."  
Aaron groaned,  
"She needs to get out of that habit."  
Robert laughed,  
"You try waking up having peed yourself and see how you feel."  
Aaron smiled and pressed another kiss to Roberts chest,  
"How you getting on with mum?"  
Robert frowned,  
"You mean the woman who hasn't said two words to me? Oh no wait sorry, she said 'excuse me' and then asked for her phone."  
Aaron sat up,  
"At least she's being polite?"  
Robert huffed out a laugh,  
"Always see the bright side don't you?"  
Aaron shrugged and hooked a finger under Roberts chin,  
"Guess I do."  
He leant in and kissed Robert gently,  
"Hey...you reckon they'll babysit tonight?"  
Robert cocked an eyebrow,  
"What are you planning?"  
Aaron shrugged,  
"I was thinking...a nice....long..."  
He kissed him quickly again,  
"Nap."  
He smiled and Robert laughed,  
"Married life really is everything I dreamed of."  
Aaron laughed and opened his mouth to reply,  
"Aaron?"  
Robert looked over at the door as Chas stuck her head round,  
"Your daughter's awake. Think she wants her Daddy."  
She purposefully avoided Roberts face as Aaron stood up,  
"I'll go get her."  
Robert was left alone and slumped into the sofa as he rubbed his face.

"There we go beautiful. All dry now eh? No more stinky little girly."  
Robert did the nappy up and laughed as Leah wriggled on the mat,  
"Almost on the move aren't you? Gonna have to keep an eye on you."  
Leah grabbed hold of her feet and squealed as Robert leant down; one arm on each side of her and his hands cupping her head,  
"Daddy's gonna have to baby-proof everything when we get home. Yes he is. Don't want you climbing into everything now do we?"  
He smiled at her and kissed her head,  
"You're so cute. How are you so cute? Little pickle."  
Leah reached up and pressed her hands to his face. Robert smiled and buried his face into her neck; blowing raspberries on her skin and making her giggle. He moved down and blew one on her stomach; laughing as she giggled loudly. He sat up and grabbed her vest; turning to grab her leggings and freezing when he saw Chas watching him from the doorway,  
"I...hi."  
Chas glanced around and walked in as Robert dressed Leah,  
"Where's Aaron?"  
Robert smiled at Leah,  
"He went out with Uncle Adam didn't he? Yes he did."  
He glanced up at Chas again and cleared his throat,  
"He said he'd be back in about an hour."  
He picked Leah up and held her up so she was standing on the mat. She started sucking on her fingers and Robert glanced over to Chas,  
"She's teething."  
Chas nodded and sat at the table,  
"She's beautiful."  
Robert nodded,  
"Yeah she is."  
Chas looked around and stood up,  
"Well I'd better get back to work."  
She walked past him and he shook his head,  
"You're never gonna stop hating me are you?"  
Chas stopped and turned,  
"Do you blame me?"  
Robert stood up; holding Leah on his hip,  
"No...no I don't. But I was hoping that...we could at least be civil to one another."  
Leah squealed again and Robert changed her position so she could kick her legs out,  
"I'm never gonna be happy that you've taken my son away."  
Robert scoffed,  
"I didn't take him away. Chas. He came with me."  
Chas scoffed,  
"Yeah. Sure."  
Robert sighed,  
"I love him. With all my heart I love him. And I know you don't wanna believe that and you wanna make me the villain in this but he's changed me. Being with him has changed me and having this one..."  
He lifted Leah slightly and kissed her head,  
"Has made me realise what's important. I would die for her. And I would die for Aaron. He's my husband...the father of my baby and the only thing that matters to me."  
Leah let out a laugh and Robert smiled,  
"One of the two things that matter to me."  
Chas sighed and walked over; stroking Leah's head and nodding,  
"I can never forgive you for what you did."  
She met Roberts eye,  
"Never."  
Robert glanced away and hitched Leah up more. Chas took Leah's hand and sighed,  
"But...I can try and start again. For Aaron. Not you."  
Robert looked at her,  
"Yeah?"  
She shrugged,  
"Aaron's been bending my ear...telling me you've changed and you're a good man now. And...seeing you with her...I can see you adore her."  
Robert smiled and kissed Leah's head,  
"She's my world."  
Chas smiled briefly and looked away. Robert bit his lip,  
"I have some photos. Of her I mean...if you wanna see them?"  
Chas nodded,  
"Yeah. Yeah okay."  
Robert walked over to the table and grabbed his ipad. He sat down and moved Leah so she was against his chest. Chas sat down beside him and looked at the screen as he unlocked it; the desktop appeared and she couldn't help the grin at the picture of Aaron shirtless, fast asleep with Leah just in a nappy asleep next to him both had their mouths open and their arms above their head, Robert looked at Chas,  
"She was about six days old when I took that."  
Chas smiled and Robert found the photo album; turning the ipad round so Chas could see it,  
"All the pictures from birth."  
She started swiping through them as Robert tried to keep Leah from grumbling by bouncing her on his knee, when it didn't work he stood up; holding Leah in his arms as he started to rock side to side. It didn't take long until she was fast asleep against his chest. Chas was looking at a photo of Leah in the hospital crib,   
"She was so tiny."  
Robert stroked Leah's back gently,  
"Yeah, everyone thought she was early when they saw her. She was only five pounds- little ball of pink in this blanket. I was so scared of dropping her or hurting her I didn't hold her unless I was sitting down or lying down...Aaron made fun of me for ages."  
Chas smiled and swiped through the photos, stopping at ones of Aaron smiling as he fed her or played with her. There were several of Leah asleep and one of Robert in a chair with a dummy in his mouth; fast asleep as Leah slept on his chest.  
"Suits you."  
Robert grinned as he swayed,  
"She doesn't like them. Dummies. She sucks her hands mostly at the moment, we have teething toys for her but so far they just seem to get thrown at Rocky instead of used as actual teethers."  
Chas frowned,  
"Rocky?"  
Robert looked at her,  
"Oh did Aaron not-Rocky's our dog. It was Aaron's choice of name."  
Chas looked at him,  
"You hate dogs."  
Robert frowned,  
"Why does everyone think I hate dogs? I've never said I hate dogs. I hated one dog. Rocky's fine. Bit excitable and he's not a fan of Leah screaming at him."  
He looked at Chas,  
"It's her new game. He comes in the room and she screams at him. She also screams at the post box though...and the kettle."  
Chas chuckled and looked down at a photo of the three of them,  
"You really are your own little family huh?"  
Robert nodded,  
"Yeah."  
Chas took a breath and swiped across the page, laughing at a picture of Leah with chocolate on her face. She stopped when she came to a picture of Aaron and Robert grinning,  
"Where was this?"  
Robert looked over,  
"Oh...um...that was after we got married."  
She looked at the picture,  
"He hasn't told me about it."  
Robert sat down gently so as not to wake the baby,  
"We got married on our own. We had two witnesses that worked there. It was about ten days before Leah was born. We wanted her to have a...we wanted to be married."  
Chas looked at him,  
"So you married because of her?"  
Robert frowned,  
"No we were engaged for nearly a year. I kept asking him and he kept saying 'soon, soon.' And then eventually just...got him to say yes."  
Chas nodded and swiped the picture again; laughing at the sight of Aaron grinning widely as he sat at the wheel of the car with Leah on his lap.   
"He sent me that when I was at work, with a message saying they were coming to see me."  
She watched him as he smiled and reached out to touch his hand,  
"You really do love him."  
Robert looked at her,  
"More than life itself."  
Chas squeezed his hand and turned back to ipad again.

"So then he blocks the doorway- he's covered in flour and he's screaming 'don't go in there! Don't go in there!"  
Chas cackled with laughter and leant back in the chair as she wiped the tears from her eyes,  
"Oh my god!"  
Robert laughed loudly; stopping when the door opened,  
"What...is going on here?"  
They both looked up and saw Aaron in the doorway. Robert smiled at him and shifted Leah slightly; Aaron walked over and put a hand on Roberts shoulder,  
"We were just catching up."  
Aaron frowned in suspicion,  
"Okay?"  
Chas looked at him and cleared her throat,  
"Can I get you anything love?"  
She glanced at Robert,  
"Pancakes maybe?"  
She snorted as she said it and Aaron sighed,  
"Really? You had to tell her that one?"  
He pushed Roberts arm and sat down heavily,  
"I'm sorry. It's such a cute story."  
Aaron rolled his eyes,  
"Yeah...whatever."  
Robert grinned at him and squeezed his hand. Leah moved and let out a cry before settling back down against Roberts chest,  
"Oh...okay."  
Chas smiled,  
"Right, I'll leave you two alone."  
Robert smiled gently at her as she kissed Aaron's head then left.  
"So you two seemed cozy..."  
Robert picked up Leah's hand,  
"Yeah...I think having this one helped."  
Aaron grinned,  
"See? Told you she was a good investment."  
Robert chuckled and moved to pass Leah over to Aaron,  
"Where you off to?"  
Robert leant down and kissed Aaron briefly,  
"Gotta pee."  
Aaron frowned as Robert walked out then cuddled Leah; kissing her head gently,  
"Daddy's silly isn't he?"  
He stroked her hand gently and sat back in the chair as he smiled to himself.

Aaron chewed his lip and stared at the ceiling; suddenly a hand was against his mouth,  
"Stop it."  
He looked down at Robert who had his head on Aaron's chest,  
"Stop."  
"Stop what?"  
Robert propped himself up and dropped his hand,  
"Stop chewing your lip. What's wrong?"  
Aaron frowned,  
"Why would anything be wrong?"  
Robert looked at him,  
"You think I don't know you? What's wrong?"  
Aaron sighed,  
"Fine."  
He sat up and rubbed his face,  
"I wanna come home. Properly I mean."  
Robert nodded,  
"Yeah I guessed that was coming."  
Aaron looked at him,  
"I'm sorry."  
Robert frowned,  
"Why? Your whole family is here, it makes sense you'd wanna be here too."  
Aaron shrugged,  
"You don't wanna though."  
Robert cupped his face,  
"Wherever you go...I go. Remember?"  
Aaron smiled and leant into the touch,  
"Yeah."  
Robert glanced down,  
"Beside I have a bit of a confession."  
Aaron looked at him,  
"What?"  
Robert met his eye,  
"I...might have started looking at houses before we came back."  
Aaron grinned and kissed him; pulling him down into the bed and wrapping an arm around his neck.   
"I know this isn't your home anymore...I don't want you to feel like you're not home."  
Robert looked at him,  
"I just want you. You and our kid and our dog. Just us. That's home to me. Not where we are."  
Aaron brushed their noses together and smiled,  
"You're my home Aaron...here in these arms is home."  
The cry from the crib across the room pulled them apart,  
"Those houses you look at have two bedrooms?"  
Robert laughed and kissed him quickly,  
"I'll get her."  
He climbed over Aaron and went over to the crib,  
"What's all this fuss baby? Come on."  
He picked Leah up and sniffed her,  
"Not that end. You hungry? Yeah? Come on then."  
Aaron grinned at him as he took Leah downstairs to give her a bottle.

Robert looked over at Aaron as he threw the ball for Rocky and smiled; Leah was crawling across the grass to him and pulled herself up on his jeans. Aaron scooped her up and held her high, making her laugh. Robert laughed as well and shoved his hands in his pockets as he watched his family. He looked back at the pub and saw Chas collecting glasses from the tables outside. He raised his hand at her and she returned the gesture. He looked over at Aaron who was pointing out the birds to Leah. He closed his eyes for a moment and breathed in the air; his heart full as he finally felt at home.


End file.
